Find out what’s cooking in the world of kitchen design with these sizzling kitchen trends for 2023 and beyond
We’ve seen the future, and it is fabulous. With a mix of trendspotting and crystal-ball gazing, we’ve pinned down the 10 top trends likely to influence Kiwi kitchen design in the coming year, from fresh colours, materials and appliances, to new-look layouts that will change the way we live and entertain. Read on for all the inspiration.
1 Spa kitchen
This has nothing to do with giving yourself a steam facial from the dishwasher and everything to do with using natural materials to channel a mood of everyday serenity. It’s about creating a space that’s calm and tranquil, says Jess Brewer of TileHaus. “It’s transporting you to a luxury space, making you feel like you’re on holiday every time you go in.” Bathroom design has set the groundwork here and a spa-style kitchen follows the same palette. Think natural stone, warm timber, textured plaster walls, tiles with
a handmade look and imperfect edges, and a neutral backdrop of beige or soft white. If you can almost hear the pan pipes, you’ve nailed it.
2 Aging gracefully
Slick, seamless, glossy perfection is being replaced by a softer, gloriously flawed look, which marks the kitchen’s transition from a purely functional space to the heart of the home. The look encapsulates wabi-sabi, the Japanese concept of finding beauty in imperfection. Wabi-sabi materials include aged mirrors – try this on a splashback or even cabinetry fronts – and aged and oiled metals. The latter material is moving beyond hardware, with sheets of aged brass wrapping around islands or used as cabinet fronts, creating a look that is simultaneously homely and glamorous. Pair aged metal with timeless timber, which pulls it back from looking too industrial and adds another layer of warmth and texture.
3 Open book
Wall cabinetry is ideal for making the most of every inch of space and hiding everything behind closed doors, but the latest kitchens are putting their metaphorical hearts on their sleeves, with great swathes of open shelving. Whether inspired by inner city cafes or just loved as another way to imprint personality on a space, open shelving is having a huge moment in kitchen design. Use it to tell a story of your everyday life, displaying everything from crockery to cookbooks.
4 Azure allure
If you want to know what will follow sage as the trendiest colour in kitchens (not counting white
and almost-as-classic black), look to blue. Traditionally, interior design follows fashion, with catwalks giving the first hints of what we might see in our homes in the near future. Based on this, bright summer-sky blue is about to have a serious moment. Look for cerulean cabinetry, tiles or even coloured tapware, which can add a delightful punch of azure to a neutral kitchen.
5 Glass act
The fluted glass trend is gaining momentum, and Phoebe Clinton-Baker of Workshop Designs expects to see a lot more glass appearing in general. “It’s a great way to show special items – we can light the cabinets up and use different finishes in the interior too,” she says. Fluted and tinted styles will likely dominate, as they bring the lightness and texture of glass, while retaining a bit of mystery – that is, they hint at what’s behind closed doors but won’t reveal your novelty mugs or mismatched china.
6 New-look cook zone
With the future of gas in New Zealand still uncertain, induction cooktops will get a huge boost, as homeowners seek to future-proof their homes. Not that we need an excuse to switch to induction, with plenty of Kiwi families already converted to this super-quick, cool-to-touch cooking surface. Also revolutionising the cooking zone are downdraft extraction units, which move your kitchen ventilation system right into the countertop. “These are really lovely because you no longer need an overhead cabinet, and you can move the cooktop into the island area, creating much more social spaces,” says Phoebe.
7 Tonal colour
The way we play with colour in kitchens is changing. The days of enlivening an ice-white kitchen with a daring pop of bright colour are gone, in favour of a more tonal approach. Jess says TileHaus is seeing a lot more people choosing gorgeous-coloured laminates, and building on this by choosing tiles in a similar shade. “It’s about curating a look and making the whole story work, rather than just having
a white kitchen and then a coloured tile,” she says. Muddy pastel tones work beautifully in a tonal scheme, with soft, sludgy sage the frontrunner for 2023, followed by pink – but a yellow-toned clay pink rather than blush or millennial.
8 Two-zone kitchen
Kiwis love open-plan kitchens and the way they connect the living areas, but there’s no denying they also expose all our messy cooking habits. Butler’s pantries or sculleries go some way to solving the problem, but Phoebe suggests the next trend will be to take them to the next level. “We’re thinking about breaking up our spaces more, having a two-zone kitchen with a scullery that can be almost a secondary kitchen space.” This might mean adding not only a sink and dishwasher to a planned scullery space, but also an oven and fridge, and generous swathes of workbench, so you can get all the messy entertaining prep or morning toast-and-tea rush done behind closed doors.
9 A room of one’s own
If there’s a silver lining to a property market under strain, it’s that people are more likely to stay put and turn a house into a personalised oasis. “People are being braver with their choices,” says Jess. “We’re seeing more fun tiling. Knowing they’ll be there for longer, people are choosing what they love, rather than something that’s resaleable.” This might manifest in coloured cabinetry or coloured or patterned tiles on the splashback or the back of the island. Or some might opt for a zing of playful colour or pattern in the scullery: “If clients aren’t ready to jump in with both feet, it’s quite a nice way to add some personality,” says Jess.
10 Curves in all the right places
Curved finishes are gentle and welcoming, and fit with the trend towards organic, nature-inspired design. “They will be around for good,” says Phoebe, “and we will keep pushing the limits by using them in different materials and different ways.” Expect to see softly curving corners on everything from island benches to open shelves, rounded light fittings and furniture. Plus, designers are beginning to embrace curved irregular shapes – think an island bench ballooning at one end to a wider seating area, wavy edging along a splashback, or imperfectly shaped fittings, such as Tom Dixon’s Melt lights.
On the surface
Floor show
Building Code changes have given impervious surfaces such as tiles a boost as the flooring of choice in kitchens. But what tiles to choose? Jess at TileHaus notes that dark tiles and large tiles continue to be the biggest trends going into 2023. Meanwhile, trend watchers have spotted crazy paving sneaking indoors. A fab look for outdoors, these irregularly shaped stones work equally well inside, adding a touch of rustic farmhouse to even the most modern of kitchens.
Pretty in porcelain
Already huge in Europe but a relatively recent addition to the Australasian market, porcelain nudges up against engineered stone in its appeal as a countertop surface. Able to withstand high temperatures, non-porous, easy to clean and usable outside – so you can match surfaces indoors and out – there’s a lot to love about this material, which is likely to gain further popularity in 2023.
Words by: Shelley Tustin
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